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Hello comparison test readers and welcome back to another allcarseveryday article. Today we’re taking a look at the 2020 Jaguar F-Pace, which is this brand’s first entry in the SUV segment. Though Jaguar isn’t known for its SUV’s, the F-Pace is one of its best-selling models now. It had help developing it from another company, though. That other company is Land Rover, the absolute King of SUV’s. Even though the two companies are under the same roof and therefore share some parts, Land Rover has a direct competitor to the F-Pace in the form of the Range Rover Velar. This sleek looking SUV aims to promise style and off-roading substance to its more well-off customers. This is the Audi Q5, and it’s already been in a comparison test against the Acura RDX, and Lexus NX. But it has a far reach in the luxury SUV segment, so it’s time to face other vehicles. Our final contender is the Volvo XC60, which is just another asset from the company that recently redesigned itself. I am evaluating these four SUVs on a scale from one to ten in seven different categories for a possible total of 70 at the end of the video. Furthermore, I am comparing these SUVs at around the $50,000 price point, which means I am comparing specific trims of each SUV without adding any options or packages to any trim. Unfortunately, the Velar is priced slightly differently than the rest, so it’s more expensive than the others. However, the trims I’m comparing are the Velar base, the F-Pace Premium, the XC60 Inscription and the Q5 Premium Plus. With that said, let’s take a peek at the Jag SUV.
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| 2020 Jaguar F-Pace Premium |
VALUE: The F-Pace Premium 30t AWD starts at $50,800. On the exterior of the Jag come a heated rear windshield, rain-sensing wipers, approach illumination, LED taillights, a power tailgate, and auto-dimming, power folding, heated outside mirrors. The wheels are five-spoke units that are 19 inches in diameter, the headlights are Xenon and there are daytime running lights. On those Xenon headlights are a headlight power-washing feature, if you’re into that. After using the Jaguar’s keyless access system, the inside of the F-Pace has dual-zone climate control, the rearview mirror dims by itself, and the front seats are power-adjustable eight ways as well as heated. The rear seat folds 40/20/40 which is better than the standard 60/40 split. The seats are a leather substitute in the Jag, but the steering wheel is real leather. The Jaguar has a TFT display and analog gauges, and a ten-inch screen in the dashboard where you can find the infotainment unit. This is also the location of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Like in other vehicles here the F-Pace has a voice recognition system, and the Meridian sound system comes with 380 watts. To complement that audio system, the Jag has HD Radio and Bluetooth. The F-Pace has HomeLink and the ability to lock, unlock, and start the Jaguar from an app on your smartphone. The final big-ticket feature on the inside is the large panoramic sunroof.
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| 2020 Land Rover Range Rover Velar |
The Velar is most expensive in test as it takes $56,300 to drive off a dealer lot in one. Exterior features are similar to the Jaguar, with 19-inch 5-spoke wheels, a power tailgate, rain-sensing wipers, and auto-dimming, power folding heated exterior mirrors. The only couple of differences between the two are the fact that the Velar comes with LED headlights and daytime running lights, as well as having flush, powered door handles. The keyless entry system makes it easy to get into and start the Velar, like the other vehicles. The interior has more than the Jaguar, naturally, because it’s nearly $6,000 more expensive. It has a full Ebony perforated grained leather interior, the front seats are heated and the driver seat is power adjustable 14 different ways as well as having a memory function. The rear seats fold 40/20/40 like its corporate cousin. The Velar has a luxurious headliner where the HomeLink, auto-dimming rearview mirror and sliding panoramic sunroof meet the ceiling. It also has an air quality sensor, and the same analog gauges and TFT display as the Jaguar. Though the Range Rover misses out on a fully digital gauge cluster, it does have the Touch Pro system for infotainment which are two separate screens in the dashboard, one for infotainment and one for the climate controls and such beneath it. I’m never a huge fan of two-screen dashboards, but JLR’s application is actually fantastic. Speaking of the climate control, the Velar only comes with dual-zone, four-zone climate control is an option. The smartphone pack adds Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the Nav Pro pack adds a navigation system that’s connected to the Web via a 4G LTE connection that passengers can also use. SiriusXM and Bluetooth are standard in the Velar, as is the Jaguar’s 380-watt Meridian sound system. The last feature that’s on the Velar like in other vehicles is the remote app that allows owners to start, lock, unlock and track their vehicle from their smartphone.
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| 2020 Volvo XC60 |
The Volvo XC60 T5 AWD Inscription starts at $48,850. On the outside of this car comes heated windshield washer nozzles, rain-sensing wipers, a power tailgate that can be activated by waving a foot under the rear bumper, power-folding mirrors, foglights, and LED headlights with—and I quote— “Thor’s hammer daytime running lights.” The wheels on the Volvo are 19 inches like the other vehicles in this test, but they are a ten-spoke black diamond cut design. On the inside, there is a four-zone climate control system with a humidity sensor. A panoramic sunroof, full leather interior, and a memory function for both powered front seats are nice features for Volvo drivers. The front seats get another four ways of power lumbar adjustment and a powered seat extension cushion, and the rear headrests are power-folding for some reason. There’s a 12-volt outlet in the cargo hold, and two USB ports. Near the headliner, the Volvo has an auto-dimming rearview mirror and HomeLink. The technology in the Volvo is like the Audi with a 12.3-inch reconfigurable screen where the gauge cluster is. Furthermore, the Volvo has a nine-inch screen in the center console that runs the Sensus navigation system and infotainment system. This is also the area where the Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and SiriusXM can be found. This touchscreen is one of the best I have ever used in a car, besides Tesla. It was quick, impressive, and like an iPhone, intuitive. The audio system in the Volvo is an awesome 600-watt system with 14 speakers, one of which is an amplifier. The Volvo also has software that owners can run on their smartphone that allows them to start, lock, and unlock their XC60 from an app. Volvo is generous with this software because it is on a four year subscription, longer than most competitors.
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| 2019 Audi Q5 |
Finally, our last contender is the Audi Q5 Premium Plus. This trim Q5 starts at $49,950. Exterior features include LED DRLs, taillights and headlights. The exterior mirrors are heated, power-folding and auto-dimming, and the tailgate is powered as well. The five spoke wheels are 19-inches in diameter and the windshield wipers and headlights turn on when it starts to rain. The key has remote start, and keyless entry to the cabin and hands-free access to the trunk. The inside of the Audi features a manual steering column, a tri-zone climate control system, and heated, eight-way power adjustable front seats with an additional four ways of power lumbar adjustment and a memory function for the driver seat and mirror. Wood inlays in the dash and a leather interior spice things up, and the second row of seats folds in a 40/20/40 split. The Audi, like the other vehicles mentioned has a panoramic sunroof at this trim level, and it also has two more USB ports in the back. The Q5 also has Audi PhoneBox, which adds wireless cellphone charging and allows call reception in the Audi to be noticeably better using nearfield coupling. Let’s move on to the technology in the Audi, the headliner of which is the virtual cockpit. This reconfigurable gauge cluster is a 12.3-inch LCD screen that has two modes: Classic and Infotainment. The Q5 also has navigation, and its infotainment system MMI has handwriting recognition technology. The center screen increases in size over the Premium to 8.3 inches, which is the host to the nav system and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Bluetooth and SiriusXM add to the audio experience as does the in-house audio system with 180 watts and ten speakers. The Audi uses Connect Plus and Prime, which allows the driver to unlock or lock the Q5 from a smartphone app. This feature also brings Amazon Alexa, Google Earth, voice recognition, a vehicle locator both for if the Q5 gets stolen or if the driver forgets where they parked, and a 4G LTE hotspot. This package is on a subscription basis, however.
Now that we’ve went through the price and features of every SUV, it’s time to assign points. The Volvo is the obvious winner here, checking nearly all exterior boxes in terms of lighting and mirrors, and all interior boxes in terms of leather, navigation, the digital gauge cluster, and best sound system, all for the least expensive price. It’s getting a nine out of ten for the value segment. The next best is the Audi, which also has leather, navigation, and the fully digital gauge cluster, but is missing out on a superior sound system and four-way climate control. It’s also $1,100 more expensive than the Volvo. It gets an eight out of ten for value. The Jaguar is kind of skimpy on features, maybe because it is marketed as a more premium brand than the Volvo and Audi. Either way, it was missing leather, a more advanced climate control system, a fully digital gauge cluster and is the only vehicle without navigation. It’s only marginally more expensive than the Audi, but compared to that car and the Volvo I can’t justify the features on the Jag. It’s not missing one or even a couple, it’s missing several big-ticket items, so it gets a six point eight. The Velar mostly covers the boxes the Volvo did, but it’s also $7,450 more expensive, and I don’t think it offers that much more value than the Volvo. It doesn’t even have four-way climate control at this level or a fully digital gauge cluster. And again, though the Meridian sound system is awesome, it’s dwarfed in power by the Volvo’s. Five point eight for the Velar, as the additional thousands spent even on this base model should have a standard digital gauge cluster and better climate control, among other things.
RELIABILITY: I get this measure from Consumer Reports, which purchases each car for their own extensive testing. The F-Pace is rated as ‘Much Worse than Average’ from the organization, citing in-car electronics and noises and leaks as problem areas. The Velar predictably performs the same in this segment. The Volvo XC60 is rated ‘Worse than Average’ with the same poor rating for in-car electronics. The Audi is the only vehicle here to get a good score for reliability, coming in at ‘Better than Average’. I assign one point for each level up or down in Consumer Report’s rankings, which means the Audi gets a nine, the Volvo gets a seven, and the JLR cousins get a six.
POWERTRAIN AND PERFORMANCE: The F-Pace comes with a 296-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder making 295 pound-feet of torque and mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. As the name of this particular F-Pace suggests, the 2.0 turbo puts power to the ground through all four wheels. In total, this allows the F-Pace to get to 60 miles per hour in about six seconds flat. The Velar uses the same engine but in a detuned guise with 247 horsepower and 269-pound feet. It’s mated to the same eight-speed auto, and is all-wheel-drive as well. Land Rover quotes a 0-60 of 6.7 seconds for the Velar, but real world testing says otherwise with a time of 6.4 seconds. This makes sense because it’s down 45 horsepower relative to the tuned version in the Jaguar. The Volvo also has a boosted four-cylinder with identical displacement of two-liters. It makes the same 250 horsepower as the Velar, but only 258 pound-feet of twist. Like the other two vehicles, the Volvo has an eight-speed automatic, but surprisingly paddle shifters aren’t available on this trim level. It too has all-wheel-drive, allowing the SUV to tie the Velar to 60 with a time of 6.4. Finally, the Audi has a little variation, still coming with a 2-liter turbocharged four, but instead joining that engine to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. The setup is all-wheel-drive, and the engine makes 248 horsepower and 273 pound-feet. It’s the speed-demon of the group with a time of 5.9 seconds, beating the Jag by a tenth. The Jaguar is getting an eight for powertrain and performance, with the second fastest time in the group and most power. The Velar gets a seven for having a detuned engine and also tying for slowest 0-60. The Volvo gets six point seven for tying slowest and missing paddle shifters. Finally, the Audi gets an eight as well, for being the fastest here but being down a gear relative to the other three.
MPG: The Jag gets 22 miles per gallon of premium gasoline in the city and 27 on the highway, for a combined rating of 24. The Velar gets 21 miles per gallon in the city and the same 27 on the highway, for a combined 23 miles per gallon. The Volvo is slightly thirstier with 20 in the city and 27 on the highway, for a combined 23. The Audi directly ties the Jaguar, with scores of 22, 27, and 24. Eight points for the Jaguar and Audi, seven point eight for the Velar, and seven point six for the Volvo.
SAFETY: The Jaguar comes standard with automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition and an adaptive speed limiter (which can be turned off, thankfully). Additional features are lane-keep assist, a driver condition monitor, and front and rear parking aids. Noticeably absent here are adaptive cruise control and rear cross traffic alert. In the Velar, standard are blind spot assist, lane keep assist, the driver condition monitor and sign reader with adaptive speed control, and a rear traffic monitor. Again, skimpy on active safety features here. The Volvo finally checks a few more boxes with lane keeping assist, blind spot information and cross-traffic alert, front and rear park assist, and automatic high beams. The Audi has pre-sense basic, city and rear, which bundles automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind spot warning, and three other features that I will explain right now. Pre-sense basic prepares occupants and the vehicle for an inevitable collision by tightening seatbelts and closing the windows, among other things. Pre-sense rear does the same but for impending rear-end collisions. It also has exit assist, which helps the driver and driver-side passengers exit the vehicle safely when they are parallel parked. Though the JLR vehicles aren’t rated by the IIHS yet, the Audi gets mostly ‘Good’ ratings, and the Volvo is a Top Safety Pick. Unfortunately, I can’t factor that into the score for this category because the other two aren’t rated yet. The Jaguar gets a seven for safety, the Range Rover gets a seven point two, the Volvo gets an eight point two, and the Audi gets an eight.
STYLING: This is a subjective category obviously, so you can disagree with what I think. I like the exterior styling of the Velar best, it’s extra sleek and there is a thin, slight theme to the whole vehicle between the headlights and taillights. It has a road presence no other vehicle here has. My next favorite is the Jaguar, less so the front and more the rear, which is inspired by the company's F-Type sports car. It’s also nice to see two different styling directions from JLR because the Velar is sportier, whereas the F-Pace is more of a luxury GT look. Both work well, but like I said the Velar stands out in traffic. Next is the Volvo, which has a clean, if not understated design. All new Volvo’s have the same corporate face, and it’s a good thing I like that face. However, the Volvo just doesn’t feel as exciting as the Velar or even the F-Pace. Which is perfectly fine, as Volvo owners aren’t necessarily going for the most braggadocios look. The long taillights certainly aren’t forgettable, and this generation XC60 is much more attractive than the previous version, which was sort of milquetoast. The Audi is a good look too, but it blends right into traffic, just like the German’s like. Definitely not ugly, though. I like all the interior’s almost the same, but again I will give the slight advantage to the Velar because I like the way it integrated the climate system into a separate screen. Next is the Volvo, with its vertical screen and fully digital gauge cluster. The inside carries the uncluttered theme well. The Jag and Audi are sort of a toss-up, both are attractive. The Audi has a lot more going on than any other interior in test, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in this case. I am not a fan of the standalone screen in the dash, I appreciate the integrated screen in the F-Pace better. Points in this category go to the Velar with a nine point five, the Volvo gets an eight point five, the Jaguar gets eight point one and the Audi brings up the rear with seven point five.
UTILITY: Finally, let’s talk about how well each vehicle performs the task it was intended to serve. We’ll be looking at back seats, USB ports, towing capacity and cargo volume here. The Jaguar has 33.5 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats and 63.5 cubes with the seats down. It has a USB port up front and a couple for the rear seat passengers, as well as a 12-volt outlet in the trunk. Finally, the vehicle can tow a maximum of 5,290 pounds. The Velar has 29.4 cubic feet standard and 60.2 with the seats down. USB ports are sprinkled throughout both rows, and the back seat is as easy to use as the other vehicles here. The Velar can only tow 1,653 pounds, though. The Volvo has 22.4 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats and 63.3 with the rear seats down. It has two USB ports, which may not be enough for a family, but it has an additional 12-volt outlet. The seats have a pass-through into the cargo area which is a huge benefit, and the rear seats are easy to fold down. The XC60 T5 AWD can tow a maximum of 3,500 pounds. The Audi stores 25.1 cubes behind the rear seat, and 53.1 with the seats down. The Audi in this trim has four USB ports, two for the front and two for the rear passengers. Ingress and egress for the back seat is decent and the Audi can tow 4,400 pounds in this trim. That’s going to be a nine for the Jaguar, an eight for the Velar, an eight for the Volvo, and an eight point two for the Audi.
RESULTS: Here are the final scores for this comparison test. Volvo: 55.0, Audi: 56.7, Jaguar: 52.9, Land Rover: 51.3. The Audi won this comparison, and like I have been saying for literally a whole year now, this vehicle is the perfect jack of all trades, but master of none. As I was totaling up the points, it got a solid eight in four of the seven categories. Where other vehicles falter in value, safety, and powertrain, the Audi just offers second best in every category for first best overall. And there is something to be said for that. There is also something to be said for the other vehicles in this test though, as I wouldn’t spend my money on the Audi. I would probably buy the Volvo, I think it’s a sensible choice that not everyone and their Mom is going to own. And if you want sex-appeal, the Velar and Jaguar are your only real options out of these four. In this comparison test, there isn’t a true loser, as I would be comfortable recommending any of these four to potential buyers—your preference will just come down to whichever one satisfies more of your needs. Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more comparisons.
